Barbara Boyles

In the summer of 1967, Barbara Boyles was a 17-year-old girl from Columbia Heights, Minnesota, looking forward to her senior year at the local high school. Living with her parents, William C. Boyles and his wife, Barbara was on the cusp of adulthood, with a future full of possibilities ahead of her. That future was stolen in a brutal act of violence that has remained a mystery for decades, leaving a permanent scar on her family and community.

On the afternoon of Thursday, August 3, 1967, Barbara left her family’s home around noon. She was planning to walk the five or six blocks to a girlfriend's house, a casual summer day visit. It was the last time her family saw her alive. When she never arrived at her friend’s home and didn't return, her worried parents reported her missing to the Columbia Heights Police Department that evening. A search began for the missing teenager, but the day ended with no sign of Barbara.

The next morning, Friday, August 4, the Fridley Police Department received an anonymous phone call. The male caller, who the dispatcher believed sounded young, between 18 and 25, and possibly disguising his voice, directed officers to a body near 77th Avenue and East River Road. Following the tip, officers responded to a heavily wooded area on the Elm Street Extension, a spot known locally as a lovers' lane. There, at approximately 11:00 a.m., behind the Barry Blower Manufacturing Company, they made a devastating discovery. The body was that of Barbara Boyles.

Barbara had been the victim of a horrifically violent attack. She was found nude, and an autopsy would later confirm she had been stabbed multiple times in the abdomen and her throat had been cut. Anoka County investigators, working with Fridley police, processed the scene. They recovered a butcher knife stained with blood near her body, which was determined to be the murder weapon. Barbara was identified by the initials on her class ring. The autopsy determined her death occurred between noon and 3:00 p.m. on the day she disappeared.

The investigation into Barbara’s murder began immediately. Teams of officers from the Anoka County Sheriff's Office and the Fridley Police Department canvassed the area and started questioning a number of individuals. The initial phase of the investigation was active, with police pursuing various leads. At one point, information led detectives to send an investigator to California to follow up on a tip, though it did not lead to a resolution. The case generated phone tips, but as years passed, the trail grew cold.

Approximately seven years after the murder, a new lead surfaced when the Fridley Police Department received an anonymous letter containing information about the case. The Anoka County Major Crime Investigation Unit made a public appeal, asking the letter's author to come forward to provide more details, and a large reward was offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Still, no charges were ever filed. The identity of the initial anonymous caller and the subsequent letter writer remain unknown. For decades, the case has remained open, a painful and unresolved chapter in the county's history.

As of October 2024, the murder of Barbara Boyles remains an active cold case, assigned the number 67-003075 by the Anoka County Sheriff's Office. Its Cold Case Homicide Unit continues to seek justice for Barbara and closure for her family, who never received the answers they deserved. Barbara is buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. Investigators believe that someone, somewhere, has the information needed to finally solve this brutal crime. The Anoka County Sheriff's Office encourages anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to contact them at 763-324-5000 or email [email protected]. Tipsters can remain anonymous.